Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1885-1890, 1887-03-12
GREAT FALLS TRIBUNE.
NATURE.
Written for the Tribune:

" T2GteH }oF tHt ItoAHo'
Nature is interesting in some form or
other to almost everyone, but more par'ic-
Tlsriv so. as a rule, to the cultivated and
refined, who, enjoying more knowledge
than their fellows, can better appreciate
higher things, gaining from their inter
course with them rich, pleasurable funos
of Intellectual power and moral culture.
Those nobler souls who, not content with
erovelling in the dust, rise above the scum
Of everyday surroundings, long for better
things. are possessed BY an unquenchable
desire after knowledge and wisdom, seek
ing the truth for its own sake must, oythe
very example Of their lives, have a bene-
fcient influence upon posterity; and such
are those who have stood highest in Liter
AZURE. in the Arts and the Science.
None will deny that humanity IN It's
noblest examples is far removed from gen
uine puriety. Where, then, may we hho
this ~spotless virtue unalloyed? In Liter
a+,,ra9 No. In the Arts? No. In the
Sciences? No. Where, then? In nature
Il Is there we find the nearest earthly
approach to the true, the pure, the oeau'l-
fnI and the sublime. Nature is from God
and mans whole works are but represen-
+ations of the ideas he has caught under
various aspects and accumulated ID tle
course Of ages from nature, and we All
know that the puny efforts OF man can
never possibly compare with the wonoef-
fu1 creations of his Maker. Moore beau
tifully illustrates this too patent tact "hen
he SAYS:
Thou art. 0, God, the light and life
Of all this wonderous world we see'
Its glow by day, its smile by hlgnt,
Are but reflections caught from shee!
Where'er we turn, thy glorles shlne,.
And all things fair and bright are thine.
Therefore. if we want to hold commun-
ion with the best of all good we must
court nature; we must go into the helds,
The signing woods, the proud-peakeu
mountains, wander by the banks OF mighty
rivers. harken to the song OF the toam-
crested CaSCau6S, EGC4luS ia IhoS9y
meath the leafy umbrage bordering the
purling brooks, become acquainted Win
the wonders OF the mighty deep ana learn
to read the stars above. Our greatest poets
have appreciated this, and 0 the rapturous
sones they have sung-the heart-thrlillng
melodies Of men dwelling in harmonious
intimacy with the very soul OF the Uni
verse. "Seek, and ye shall find. KNOCK
and it shall be opened unto you" says the
Great teacher. and, verify, some men nave
sougbt and not in vain-indlng, theyhaVe
knocked and it has been opened untl
them thev have entered the E1ysium en-
loved by a small minority and have nae
their yerv souls unutterably stirred by the
passionate love that filled their beings, the
moment they passed the mystic veil to the
~delightseme fields beyond, prepared BY
the Creator for all who can love his maj.
velous works.
Tennyson says in his poem entitled
The Mystic"
Angels nave Ldlhou Will I'LL aiN
ed him thrones:
Ye knew him not; he was not one OF ye
Ye scorned him with an undlscernlns
scorn:
We could not read the marvel in his eye
The still, serene abstraction: !"
Such a description is equally applicable
to the searcher after the secret mysteries
Nature. for it is seldom that the average
mind can understand such an one. Any
thing that is placed before boisterou
mirth and jollity is regarded as folly, ant
people pirate. about having a good tim
and lots of fun. They forget that thes'
seekers after wisdom enjoy life and hav'
lust as good a time as the jolly crowd does
They forget that tastes differ. Then. any
thing that is placed before fortune hunt
ing is not only astonishing, but it actuall..
provokes ridicule and scorn. It's sal
that money is the root OF all evil; it is ais
the root of much good, and the man VII
has not his eyes open to this fact is nc
only blind to the amain chance" but mus
be also sadly ignorant of the duties an
necessities imposed upon him by the civ
ilization of the times. Money is a pleas
ant thing to have, and | would not 1egar
nv purse as trash unless it was empt,
And, to go further, an empty purse, is be
ter than no purse at all, tor there may b